QuoteReplyTopic: Roxy Music And Other Schizophrenic Groups Posted: December 28 2010 at 20:29

I've just started listening to Roxy Music and while I'm really enjoying myself (not sold on Ferry's singing but his songwriting is very good as are the band performances) I really find some of the stylistic leaps they make from song to song extremely jarring, even as a progressive listener. For example on For Your Pleasure we have Editions Of You followed by In Every Dream Home A Heartache. Listen to them one after the other and see how you feel.

They're from different planets and you'd never believe someone had intentionally sequenced them together.

This isn't an isolated incident though, RM frequently follow tracks with other tracks that don't even faintly flow together well. Clearly they do it on purpose and seem to find it amusing, though I will admit that following the long, intense, morose Sea Breezes with the facetious Bitters End on the debut album is pretty funny.

I, for one, love this aspect of Roxy Music's, erm... music. The band collected and re-presented music styles the way Warhol did with found images. This makes for some intriguing juxtapositions, which were (unfortunately) smoothed out with each successive release.

Just on the off-chance that anyone's interested, I'd like to recommend the first few albums by Split Enz. It's the forerunner of Crowded House (not a recommendation , I know) and had the Finn brothers as founding members.

Their songs have the same off-the-wall feel to them, at least I see a lot of similarities to RM, although others may not?

I've just started listening to Roxy Music and while I'm really enjoying myself (not sold on Ferry's singing but his songwriting is very good as are the band performances) I really find some of the stylistic leaps they make from song to song extremely jarring, even as a progressive listener. For example on For Your Pleasure we have Editions Of You followed by In Every Dream Home A Heartache. Listen to them one after the other and see how you feel.

They're from different planets and you'd never believe someone had intentionally sequenced them together.

This isn't an isolated incident though, RM frequently follow tracks with other tracks that don't even faintly flow together well. Clearly they do it on purpose and seem to find it amusing, though I will admit that following the long, intense, morose Sea Breezes with the facetious Bitters End on the debut album is pretty funny.

What other bands do you find alarming or unpredictable in this way?

on a side note: listen to the similarity of the chord structure between "In Every Dream Home a Heartache" and this:

the songs are even in the same key. both albums are from 1975, so it is probably a coincidence

NPJ: Being a New Zealander I'm very familiar with Split Enz and I do see similarities to Roxy Music, particularly the pioneering use of sarcasm and irony, and mixing joyous pop tunes with sinister experimental moments.

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